The Ingleside community began in the 1850s when George C. Hatch purchased land on both sides of the bayou. He later acquired 3,800 acres and sold land to other settlers who built homes on the bayou and Ingleside Cove. John Vineyard is credited with naming Ingleside Cove for his Scottish ancestral home. In 1854 George and Marcellus Turner settled in the area, and in 1857 Marcellus obtained a grant for the area's first post office. The Turners established the Star Cattle Company and organized several cattle drives to northern markets. Youngs Coleman operated a general store. George Hatch introduced grape culture to the area, and his son John G. Hatch developed a prosperous vineyard in the 1880s. The Massi and Mircovich families were prominent in the fishing industry established there. The railway bypassed Ingleside in the late 1880s. Residents set up a new town site on the railroad in 1893, and in the early 1890s a large hotel was built on the cove. In later years, the community's economic base was assisted by the establishment of an oil refinery, industrial development, and a U.S. Navy home port. The population of Ingleside grew steadily after the 1970s.